The present invention relates generally to cable assemblies used in high speed data transmission, and more particularly to a cable assembly having an improved shielding structure.
In the field of high speed data transmission, the data signals must travel over their associated signal paths with a measure of assurance. This assurance often depends on the impedance of the signal path. While the impedance of electrical cables may be maintained to almost a constant value, drops and rises in impedance often occur at connector points on the cables, for example, where the cable is terminated to a connector and that connector is in turn engaged with another connector. The impedance of a connector that is terminated to a cable may differ significantly from the impedance of the cable as well as the impedance of an opposing connector. Adding shielding to the terminating connector assists in moderating any impedance mismatch, but the effectiveness of shielding such a connector depends largely on the physical structure of the connector. Certain connector structures are made with difficult configurations so that shielding all of the effective portions of the connectors is an expensive task. In other connectors, the structure of the connector prevents the establishment of reliable connections when the desired shielding is added to them.
The present invention is directed to a cable connector construction that overcomes the aforementioned disadvantages.